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What’s the verdict on Elneny’s start to his Arsenal career?

How would you rate Elneny’s first season for Arsenal? by AH

Although many Arsenal fans were disappointed that Mohammed Elneny turned out to be the only signing of the January transfer window, the Egyptian international ended up being a very impressive player for the club this year.

At the time of Elneny’s signing the Gunners were crying out for that final boost that could have maintained their title challenge. Arsenal were toying with Leicester over the Christmas period and were standing strong in the top two with a realistic chance of being title winners at the end of the season.

Everyone expected Leicester to falter, whilst Arsenal could have continued on until the end of the season. However, that was not the case and in fact it was very much the other way around because as Arsenal began to fall behind, Leicester’s surge continued. A top quality centre back and striker was what Arsenal needed in January to keep us going, but all Wenger could manage was yet another midfielder. Admittedly Arsenal were struggling with injuries in midfield at the time, with Wilshere and Cazorla being the main absentees, and so Elneny’s signing was definitely necessary, but you couldn’t help but feel there were more important areas that needed addressing.

At the closure of the window, fans were understandably left disappointed with Elneny being the only signing, and many were unsure what to think of the club’s new Egypt international. A rumoured £5 million bargain from Swiss club Basel, Elneny came very cheap and fans did not know too much about him, but as Wenger often does, he seemed to pull a trick from under his sleeve and presented us with a central midfielder who is not afraid to get stuck in at either end of the pitch.

Elneny has been a brilliant player for Arsenal so far and even benched the ever present Francis Coquelin when players became fit again. Elneny’s presence both in defence and attack does not go unnoticed, whilst his determination and drive to carry the ball forward is something we don’t see too much from Arsenal’s usual sideways passing.

Speaking on adapting to life at Arsenal, Elneny told Arsenal.com: “When I came to Arsenal, there were different ideas. If you went somewhere thinking you know everything, then you’ll never learn. I gain experience and I always learn from people here because they are successful. Arsenal are one of the biggest five clubs in the world so they’re definitely successful people. You have to listen to everyone here to gain their experience.”

Elneny was asked about how he has had to adapt to the life of London and the style of the Gunners and he seems to be fitting in well with his teammates, despite there being a language barrier. Elneny is an active part of the side, featuring a total of 17 times for the Gunners. He managed to get his first goal for Arsenal in the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp and was unlucky not to get his first goal in the Premier League on Sunday against Aston Villa.

What did you make of Elneny’s first season? In such a short time I think he has already impressed and as a young player he still has many years of development ahead of him before he really peaks. It’ll be exciting to see how he has done in his first full season at the club come May 2017.

21 thoughts on “What’s the verdict on Elneny’s start to his Arsenal career?”

Elneny is an excellent player and is proof yet again you don’t have to spend 50 million to get quality..He is only 23, and in a few years time..he could well turn out to be one of the bargains of the century..

Well,like you said,it was a short time to judge a player.
But what I have seen from him is these:
He is calm under pressure
He does the simple things well
He does not slow down our attack
He never stops running..
But he is not pacy,look at him closely..
All in all, I don’t really think he is a first team material for a club like Arsenal,squad player at best!

I still believe that he’s Flaminis replacement in the team. He’s reliable, sometimes you want someone there just keeping things ticking over, doing the straight forward rather than trying something brash or rash. The flashiest we’ll be seeing from him is if he starts taking pops from distance, which I hope he will. You need players like this around a team, Parlour was a bit like this, but more aggression. Also I know I could be proved completely wrong, he might grow bigger in stature, still early to say. He’s only been here a little over a few months and he has already made an impact, a great impression too.

Elneny moves forward and a bit left, going away from the right side players who have the ball. Then the ball goes from Coq to Iwobi, Iwobi to Alexis, before Alexis spreads the play out to Elneny.
Whatever pass Elneny had in mind to do, The Moment he makes that pass, either out to an overlapping Monreal, a back post Alexis, a square to Giroud. Or maybe a through-ball for Ozil. “The moment he makes that pass you will see him dart straight back into position”, face the ball and glancing either side, a little like this……….

Name: Emre Mor
Club: Nordsjælland
Debut: 28 November 2015 v Randers
Position: forward
Nationality: Turkish
Date of birth: 24 July 1997
Preferred foot: left
Height: 168 cm
They say …
“What he is capable of is extraordinary. He has got
so much speed in his feet, and he is so
unpredictable. Just when you expect him to pass,
he makes another dribble instead and changes
direction. And when he does that, you do not
catch him – that is plain impossible.”
Kasper Hjulmand, Nordsjælland coach
“He has taken a gigantic leap recently when it
comes to being able to play with the absolutely
best. He has learned to work hard, and he has
matured as a person, so he can also use his
temper in a positive way.”
Per Holm, Denmark Under-16 coach – formerly
Mor’s coach at U17 level

I’ve heard so many legends about Elneny. It’s hard to separate the myth from reality. Obviously we all have heard he is the offspring of a love affair between a warlord & a fairy, & that thing about him rescuing a pregnant lady from the jaws of a Great White. I’ve also heard he was the one who took down Osama Bin Laden. There’s that story about him getting bitten by a black mamba and the black mamba becoming paralysed then dying 48 hours later. I heard an Arabian princess paid roughly £10 million per vial of his semen. There’s that thing about him going undercover to infiltrate and take down a Mexican cartel that killed a childhood friend of his. Scientists have supposedly hypothesised he is a genetic mutation of some kind, making him an evolved beyond the times “super-human”.﻿